Archives for April 2011

Evening folks! How yall doing? This weekend has been great so far! The weather has been GORGEOUS! Sunny and in the 70s. I can’t help but stay outside! The nice weather actually started Thursday. We decided to eat dinner outside, upstairs on our balcony.

Yesterday, I sat outside three different times soaking up the sun, reading, talking on the phone, hanging out with the dogs, etc. Our Gardenias are blooming and the backyard smells heavenly!

I tried out my new swimsuit I allowed myself to get after completing my 6 weeks to 6 pack DVD. I knew I wanted a basic black swimsuit, but every store I went to had cute bottoms, but no cute top, or not in my size. So, I decided, it’s black, who cares if it’s even from the same store? I found a cute top at Old Navy, and cute bottoms at Target. Cute, and not to mention…cheap!

Friday evening, Bobby and I went to our favorite Mexican place for an early dinner, and came home deciding to just take the girls on a quick golf cart ride. Well, our ride ended up turning into a whole evening of adventure!

On our way back toward the house, Bobby decided to detour off road into the woods down some half overgrown trail. I was less than thrilled, but humored him anyway. We went a good ways, and found a small clearing where he found BLACKBERRIES! I lived in the woods for a couple years as a child, (not really the woods, we had a house, but you know what I mean) and I can still remember blackberry picking! We had nothing to put them in, so bobby just got a handful and we said we would come back next week (a lot were not ready to be picked yet.)

Blackberries!

Now, when I say we were in the middle of the woods on a golf cart….we were in the middle of the woods on a golf cart!

behind us….

in front of us…

hhhmmmm….kind of creepy! I love being otuside on my patio, or my porch, enjoying nature….but that is as far as it goes. Going deep into the woods is not my cup of tea, so I was slightly nervous. Ok, so we finally left the woods with me driving so Bobby could hold his precious blackberries. When we got back to the roads of the neighborhood right behind our house, we discovered a TON of blackberries right there next to the road! Luckily, we were literally a street over from our house so we went back, grabbed a bowl, and went back to do some picking!

We got a lot and I was ready to go home, but not the little boy…he wanted to go BACK into the woods for more. Right before I was about to agree, the security guard drove by, and we gave him a blackberry. He told us to have fun, but be careful, and watch out for wild hogs…..WHAT?!? He said this is their favorite time of day to be active. EXCUSE ME!?! hogs? basically in my backyard? GAH!

Bobby somehow convinced me to go back into the woods, but I told him I wasn’t going far and we were making it quick, it was getting dark and I was not about to get eaten by a crazy pig on steroids. So we went back in and found more berries, all the while I stayed IN the cart darting my eyes around keeping watch. When I finally got brave enough to pick some berries Bobby says “oh, a tick! be careful! We will have to check each other for ticks later!” OOOKKK dude. That’s enough for me. I had already seen some spiders, been warned about wild hogs, and now you see a tick. That’s just great! I freaked out enough to convince him it was time to go!

We went home, washed the berries and put some in a container for our neighbors who were working in the community garden.

We talked to them for a bit, and they gave us two tomato plants to grow, and some petunias to put in a vase. They smell SO GOOD and I split them up into two vases. If I was rich I would have fresh flowers in my house all the time. I love walking by and smelling them. It really is filling up the whole house.

here comes the bbbrrriiiddeee!

Fun night! Definitely not what we planned to do till 9:00, but it was fun! Not to mention the fun continued all day today! That will be in my next post. I will give you a a sneak peak of what we did….We ran on the beach and had a picnic lunch. Pics and story in my next post!

It’s Friday, Friday……ok I will not have that song stuck in my head all day, again! Anyway, I will admit I was NOT one of the millions of people who woke up at 3 AM for the wedding. I love weddings a LOT, but I also LOVE my sleep, and missing 4 hours of it is a lot, especially when we have this nice contraption called TiVo that I could use and record the whole thing and watch later/fast forward through the boring parts. Sneaky eh?

Anyway, I haven’t watched yet but I did see replays on TV and it looks beautiful, Kate looked beautiful! I cannot IMAGINE what was going through her head knowing how much her life is about to change! How exciting! This, of course, got me thinking about my past and my future. What exactly do I mean?

Past:

and HOPEFULLY something I will have in my future…a Disney vow renewal!

My dream is to have a vow renewal, possibly at the wedding pavilion, and a reception or dessert party outdoors at my favorite hotel, the Grand Floridian.

Yes I had done research, yes I have several ideas. If I was rich I would do if for our 5 year next year, but, I am not, so hopefully we can afford to do it for our ten year in 2017. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED my wedding and had a blast, but I didn’t get to have my Disney wedding and I am determined to get it one day!

Gooooodddd morning! another work week is close to being over. You can make it! Speaking of working, I have some more house photos to share with you all. I still have to do photos of our extra bedrooms and a couple other places that still aren’t clean or unpacked, but this should hold you over for now!

This is where I blog and work from! My desk is in the bonus room which we made huge on purpose. I love that I decided to face my desk this way. I can see the TV and look out the windows! Yes, I have two computers. Is it necessary? No. But I like it. Ignore the mess. Paperwork attacks me most days, and I try to keep it as minimal as possible.

I think I need a new battery in my clock.

Bobby’s side is not near as messy as mine. he broke the chair so he is sitting on a folding one for now.

The other side of the room. my desk is in the bottom left area of the room according to this picture, just to give you an idea.

I can’t remember if I showed the upstairs guest bathroom…So here it is again! We wanted to put a door on the bonus room so it could be a “4th bedroom” for resale purposes, so we added in a 3rd bathroom as well since the only other bathroom upstairs is the master. This is right outside the bonus room door.

This is standing in the bonus room doorway looking down the hall. Our bedroom is the door on the left. Stairs are at the end of the hall. overlook into living room is on the right past the windows.

looking down into living room….and Bobby’s clean socks he forgot to take upstairs.

I know I have posted the dining room before, but we added the leaf in the table so now it’s bigger!

I spy Heather

looking down the other hallway where the other 2 bedrooms, laundry room, guest bathroom, back door, and garage are.

and looking back towards the front door. I guess I could have turned some lights on?

at the end of the hall looking towards the backdoor. If you walk into that little area the guest bathroom is on the left. garage door is the solid door you see, laundry room is on the right.

That’s all for now!

*Anyone notice the large amount of puppies in these pics?

In case you missed my other house picture posts, here is a list for you!

Hump Day is here! It’s cloudy, windy, and dreary, AGAIN! We had so many sunny beautiful days in early April, what’s the deal?!? Everyone having a good day? yes? I am waiting on someone to come fix our shower door, so I am stuck in the house this morning anyway.

Last night, I didn’t feel like running or doing a workout DVD but wanted to sweat and get in a good workout. Of course when I asked Bobby to hit the volleyball with me he jumped at the chance!

Did I ever tell you Bobby and I met on the volleyball court? It was the first weekend of college my sophomore year, and we were playing in an intermural tournament, on opposite teams. His team crushed mine, but we met, chatted, and he invited me to play with his group the next week. Soon after he asked me out on our first date and the rest is history!

We continued to play volleyball through college, and When we got married we joined a church league at well, our church. It was pretty comical, we got frustrated because the rules were so silly (no spiking, a boy and girl must hit on each turn, etc.) so we didn’t play after that season.

In the fall, I became the varsity and JV coach of Madison Central High school. I coached the varsity team to the state playoffs, and the JV team won a tournament we hosted.

my team!

As much as I loved coaching, I got a job teaching at another school the next year which made it near impossible to teach then get to the other school to coach and go to games, etc.

I am the person who randomly walks up to people playing volleyball on the beach and asks to join in.

huh? I don’t know you.

that’s ok. As long as you can play ball.

Over the last couple of years I haven’t gotten to play much or really at all. I am hoping to find a team or league or just some people to play with now that we live just a few minutes from the beach. Ok, so back to last night. We headed out into the park that is our front yard and played for 45 minutes.

except now the grass is green!

Here I am ready for some fun!

We got in a great workout, and I topped it off with some bench presses in the garage. Well, this morning I am sore! The great thing about volleyball is it is a full body workout. My arms and shoulders are sore from setting and hitting, my legs are sore from getting down low, and my abs are sore from stretching and reaching.

The best form of volleyball of course is sand volleyball, which is what we mostly played in college. A woman can burn around 400 calories from an hour of sand volleyball according to THIS website. (Take it with a grain of salt people.) I don’t know about you but that’s a pretty good burn, and a LOT of FUN!

The thing I want you to take away from all of this, is working out does NOT have to be boring or a chore! Make it fun in these ways:

1.) Mix it up. Doing the same thing over and over is sure to be boring.

2.) Workout with friends. Playing volleyball, tennis, basketball, anything with friends is always more fun!

3.) Try something new. Don’t be afraid to explore and try an activity you have never done before. You may find a new favorite!

4.) Keep moving! Even if you aren’t any good, that’s ok! Just keep moving and sweating and having fun. You don’t have to be good at something to burn the calories!

QOTD: What activities do you do besides the regular old running or gym classes that give you a good burn?

Today is the dreaded day I post pictures of myself from the Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six-PackDVD. I have a lot I want to say and it’s all jumbled up in my head so please bear with me! Here we go!

I completed the entire 6 weeks, which was VERY hard for a couple of reasons:

1.) It was hard. This DVD is NO cake walk! I got sweaty, tired, and sore, especially in the beginning.

2.) I got bored. There were two levels, you do one for 3 weeks then the other for 3 weeks. I literally had the whole DVD memorized by the end and was so tired of the same thing over and over.

What got me through it? You guys! And promising myself I could buy a new swimsuit if I finished but that’s neither here nor there….So ya..I knew if I didn’t tell anyone I was doing this, I could easily quit. But putting it out there in the blog world for everyone to see really held me accountable!

If you didn’t read my “First Glance” post, I would go check that out before reading any further.

Did you read it? Ok! moving on!

Ok, so, the DVD called for 5 times a week. The first 3 weeks on level 1, then the 2nd three weeks on level 2. I did not follow this exactly, so here is what I did.

Week 1: the first time I did this DVD I was SO SORE the next day there was no way I could do it again. I actually only did half of it (she goes through the circuit twice on each level) so there was no way I was doing 5 times this week! So I chose to do the video 4 times. The first two I did it only one circuit through. I also didn’t use a weight. There are two backup dancers with Jillian in the video, one does the “beginner” version and one does the “advanced” version. The beginner in level 1 doesn’t use a weight, so for week one, I used no weight.

Week 2: I did the level one video all the way through 4 times, and I used a weight halfway through the week. I was still a little sore but not as bad as week one.

Week 3: I did the DVD 4 times, and this week was hard for me because I was getting SO tired of level one! I wasn’t getting sore anymore which was good and made me realize I AM getting stronger if I am not sore after doing the same workout.

Week 4: I was SO HAPPY to move on to level 2…until I did the workout. It was SO HARD! I all of the sudden wanted level one back again, it seemed like a cake walk compared to this nonsense! I did the workout half the way through (one circuit) the first day, with no weight. The rest of the week I did the DVD all the way through with no weight, doing the DVD 4 times. I was sore again, which made me happy knowing I was working for it.

Week 5: I added in the weight, and did the DVD 5 times. It was still hard, but not impossibly hard. bobby even did the workout with me a couple of times which made it more fun.

Week 6: I was so glad I was on my last week! I was getting SO BORED and ready for this to be over! I knew I could do anything for a week, so I pushed through it and did the DVD 4 times the last week. I was finally DONE!

Here are my thoughts on the DVD:

Level one has the most mat work/ab work. You do a couple of cardio intervals, but my abs were the most sore with level one. When we moved to level two, there were more cardio intervals and a lot more lunges. My IT band started getting sore from all the lunging. My abs were not that sore on level two, but my calves, butt, and quads were very sore with level two.

RESULTS: Did I get a 6 pack? no. Did I expect to get a 6 pack? no. What did I get? I got a lot stronger! I have never been very strong, never did a lot o strength training, and I think my running has suffered because of it. My core is VERY weak. All my doctors told me this, my chiropractor has said this, so it was no secret. I really wanted to build a strong core, and I can honestly say YES it is a lot stronger! The few runs I have completed since the DVD have been a lot faster and easier. My legs don’t get tired as quickly and I feel they are easier. All those lunges helped I am sure!

What about the physical results? The physical results are there, but not as much as I thought they would be. I lost one and a quarter inches off my hips and one and a quarter inches off my waist. I can definitely see definition in my abs running parallel down both sides of my stomach. It’s really hard to tell in the pictures, but trust me it’s there! So no 6 pack, but better definition and much much more strength in abs and legs.

*gulp* here are my before and after pictures. My hips have ALWAYS been my problem area. I have always had a relatively flat stomach, small waist/upper body, but have always had wide hips. Please be kind…this is the first time I have “exposed” myself like this on my blog.

Here is an after shot in swimsuit bottoms, they fit differently than the workout pants I have on above. The pants above are tight so they kind of push the fat up if that makes sense ha! Ignore the lines on my stomach from the jeans I had on!

Not sure if you can tell, but there is definitely some definition in my abs in the second shot, and my hips are visibly smaller. So did I get results? yes, they just were not what I thought. I had more running results than I imagined and not as much physical as I imagined. Will I continue to do the video? For now, I will probably do it once or twice a week through swimsuit season.

Do I recommend the video? Yes! it was a great workout, but if you plan on actually following through with the plan, know it takes a lot of dedication and be prepared to get bored with it. Ideally the video would have had 3 levels so you only have to stay on each one for two weeks at a time.

Did I do any workouts in addition to this 6 weeks to 6 pack DVD? Yes. I ran 2-3 times a week, 3-4 miles each time. I also took several walks, and did a LITTLE bit of additional strength training (mainly arms) maybe once a week. I didn’t change my eating really, but was more mindful of snacking and eating late at night. I am going to step up my cardio, work on my eating, and continue the DVD until I go on vacation in a month, and I MAY take one more set of after pictures just for curiosity sake.

So…there you have it. If you have any questions about what I did or didn’t do, or the Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six-Pack DVD in general, please feel free to e mail me at runningwithsass AT gmail DOT com, or leave them in the comments.

Happy Better Monday everyone! (Get it, Good Friday, better Monday, heh.) I hope you had a fab time with friends and family this weekend. Bobby is off today instead of being off last Friday so we just came home this afternoon from my parents.

Saturday after the service project, we left for my parents house in Louisiana and got there just in time for dinner with them, my sister, and her husband. That was our “Easter meal” because my sister’s husband was going back to Houston in the morning. Good times were had by all.

Sunday morning we went to First Baptist New Orleans with my mom and dad. This is the church where Bobby and I got married, so it was nice to go back and remember!

Yes, I am wearing the yellow dress again. Aren’t I creative?

After church more food as consumed of course! The weather was so beautiful, we were able to sit in the backyard in the shade for a couple hours and hang out, after we all took naps of course! I loved it, I am a big “hang out on the back porch” kind of person, I love being outside talking, etc. so I really enjoyed it. We talked about our upcoming trip which I am so excited about!

The last time I was at my parents house was the beginning of March when I moved out and everything was still dead and winter yuck-brown. It was so neat to see everything at their house so green again!

We ate yet again, and finished up the evening by watching Tangled. I just bought it, and I loved it the first time I saw it and still love it! If you haven’t seen it, you need to. Such a cute movie. Good job Disney. We also watched a little bit of the hornets game (they won! beat the Lakers!)

This morning, We slept in and decided to go for a 6 mile run. The farthest I have gone since the Mardi Gras RnR half where I reinjured my IT band is 4 miles, so I am interested to see what I could do.

WOW it was HOT and HUMID and SUNNY! We didn’t get out there till 9:30 and it was well over 80 degrees and 92% humidity. Bleh! We took it slow but finished and I had no knee pain woo hoo! This is to give you an idea of how gross it was outside…

We ate lunch, packed up the car and set out to find an open sno ball stand. Ever since last week when I had that AMAZING Wedding Cake flavored cupcake, I have been craving a Wedding Cake flavored sno ball. It’s probably the only thing that got me through that awfully hot run, knowing I was going to get one after. Sad I know. On the second try we found one about to open right at 12, yay!

YAY! I was quite happy. We drove the hour and 15 minutes home happily eating our well deserved treats while the pups snoozed….then I snoozed when we got home!

Oh, my parents also made us each up an Easter goodie bag. Thanks mom!

Yummy!

QOTD: What did you do for Easter? Visit family? hunt for eggs? eat a lot?

Happy Easter Eve! Today Bobby and I were up way early for a Saturday. We met some folks from our Sunday school class to fix up an old lady in our church’s’ house. She is 87 and still very active and sweet. Her husband died a couple years ago from cancer and she has no children. She lives in a very old house (she has lived in it for 60 years!) and it was in desperate need of repair. Fun fact: they rode out Katrina in that house! Seriously, I have no idea how it didn’t get blown away!

Most of the wooden siding was rotten and we found termites, so all the siding had to come off, then we put up insulation, plywood, and tyveck wrap until it can be sided.

Here is her little house

Some of the guys hard at work demolishing the siding, which the girls then carried to the street.

Bobby with a nail gun, very scary

Bobby with a power saw, equally as scary!

and just to show you I actually did go and participate, here I am after we got home.

Bobby really enjoys working on houses, and I just like to help people. Seeing that tiny house she has lived in all these 60 years makes me feel very blessed to have a nice home, and makes me want to help more people just like her! I encourage you to find a way to give back. We are all so lucky here in America…Google your local habitat for humanity chapter, or volunteer at a food bank, etc. I promise you will get a lot out of it. Helping others is such a great gift to give!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you have a great day with family and friends, and remember why we celebrate Easter. I am so thankful Jesus died for me!

QOTD: Have you ever participated in a service project? What kind? what are your thoughts?

Two posts in one day?!? what is wrong with me? I hope you are having a great Friday. I just wanted to mention a couple of things I left out of my last post.

The first of which being Bobby and I ran again last night, 3 more hilly miles, followed by some coconut water drinking. I look sweaty because well…it was really hot and humid, and the sun wasn’t even out!

Second thing, today is my LAST DAY of 6 weeks to 6 pack and well…I don’t have a 6 pack. Not even close. More on that next week so stay tuned for all the deets….

third thing is, my Bella Stink turns THREE today! In case you are lost and wondering why I call my precious furball stinky, here it is: She is bad. I mean into everything, nonstop craziness bad. She gets into everything and anything and is so spunky. We started calling her a little stinker because she is so bad, and ten it evolved to calling her stinky and stink. I know, I know, it’s weird, but it fits her, trust me! (I have even been known to throw in a “stinker bell” or “bellzers” or embarrassing things like that)

Anyway, she is 3 now, but still acts like a crazy 6 week old puppy. I thought you may enjoy some of my favorite pictures of the stink. We got stinky at 5 weeks old.

Here she is the day we brought her home:

everyone say “aaawwwwww”

she was like a cotton ball with arms and legs

slightly bigger than a coke can

By June she had gotten a little bit bigger

and July

but she still looked tiny when she was wet

but eventually we had to start getting her groomed

Stinky loves people food

and is VERY MUCH a lap dog

She loves looking out the window

and likes Disney like her mama

Last winter we discovered her love for snow

as in, stick your face in it and run like you are going under a blanket

and, watch out if you are taking warm towels out of the dryer. She will be on top of them in a heartbeat

but apparently does NOT like hats

I have loved every minute of the three years we have had her (well…except when she pees on my carpet or digs in the trashcan…but anyway….) She is so much fun to have around and I always have a fun story to share about her! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELLA!

Happy Good Friday everyone! I would have to say good Friday is the best Friday of the year. I hope everyone is having a great day! I am excited for the weekend, Bobby is working today but is off on Monday, 3 day weekend!

Thanks for all the encouragement about my decision to run with Team in Training. My donation page is up and running and you can visit HERE. Remember, every little bit helps!

Last night Bobby and I did something we do every Easter, and something I have done every year since I was a small child. We Dyed Easter Eggs!

We love taking the “magic crayon” and writing on our eggs

Honestly, we were not as creative as we have been in the past. It was 9:30 at night and I was tired, so we just did some basic stuff. Usually I will do multi colors and spend a lot of time writing/drawing on my eggs.

Here are the finished products!

yes that would me my sad attempt at a cross.

HAPPY EASTER!

Here is a fun flashback for you all…

Easter 2007

Easter 2008

Bobby looks so young! Too funny. As you can see we are all about traditions around here!

Oh, you want to know who won the AURIA earphone giveaway? Well, that would be comment #66, Corey from The Runner’s Cookie! Congrats Corey! email me and I will get your earphones out to you! A big thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, we had 118 entries for it. A big thanks to AURIA as well for hosting the giveaway!

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know why my faith and good Friday are super important to me. On this day many years ago, the greatest gift was made possible for anyone who wants it. If you have any questions about this or would like someone to talk to, PLEASE feel free to e mail me at runningwithsass AT gmail DOT com.

I hope you all have a FABULOUS day! I am heading to my parents for the weekend tomorrow afternoon after a church service project. I will try to get on here and blog tomorrow before we leave, but won’t be blogging on Easter Sunday.

QOTD: Do you dye Easter eggs? Do you have any Easter Traditions? Sunday we will go to church then have a big lunch afterwards! Growing up we had an Easter egg hunt, too! Oh and my sister and I wore matching dresses and bonnets to church. Oh yes we did!

Friday eve again! I am in a great mood today. This has been a very up and down week but I am feeling good. In part because I have something VERY special to share with you all today about my future race plans.

I am going to be running the Gulf Coast Half Marathon/Mandeville Half in October!!!

Yes, I know that’s not that exciting, the exciting part is that I am going to be running with…………… TEAM IN TRAINING! and, AND, Bobby is participating too! We will be fundraising as a team as you can see from our fundraising page, which I have yet to personalize and am working on!

Why TNT? Well, I actually have three reasons for choosing to do this:

1.) My mom, Kathy, is a cancer survivor. When I was about 7, she was diagnosed with stage 3 Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that went to the bone. She was given 3-6 months to live, but her chemotherapy worked and she is still here today!

my mom(left) with one of her sisters who also is a non hodgkins lymphoma survivor on Christmas day, which is also my mom’s birthday!

Helping to find a cure by raising money for TNT is therefore important to me. No little girl should have to go through the things my sister and I did. It was very scary for a 7 year old!

2.) Living in a new town is hard and I would love to make some new friends! We have been here since March, and have made a couple of friends yes, but not as many as I would like. I still feel like a stranger on the coast, and want to change that! I think meeting other runners and running with them on a weekly basis will help!

3.) Having a coach will push me to the next level. Since my last half marathon I have been reevaluating my training methods and trying to heal my injury. I realized I needed to strength train which I have been doing, and I needed to not run as much to heal my IT band. I have only been running about 9-12 miles a week, which is a HUGE step down from what I was doing. I also realized I really need to be pushed.

I thought back to what “worked” for me in high school athletics, what made me excel and get better and better, and it was definitely my coaches. I am not the best self motivator, but I do well having someone push me, yell at me to keep going, more of a “tough love” approach. I think a coach putting me on a plan and hopefully also having other runners to run with that will push my pace will really make me faster. I have always either trained alone or gone on runs with my husband, and sweet as he is he doesn’t push me because he feels bad doing it, so he is no help HA!

the shadow on my teeth makes me look funny heh.

I am already brainstorming ways that I can raise money. I will be sending out e-mails and snail mail, and of course trying to reach out to the runner/blogger community to donate online, but I also would love to host an online raffle or bake sale maybe? If anyone would be willing to donate something they make or sell for a raffle please e mail me at runningwithsass AT gmail DOT com.

I am so excited to get started! We have our first meeting May 5, so I am sure we will start training soon. Hurray! If you have participated in an event with TNT and have words of wisdom, tips etc. to share please either comment or e-mail me. I would love to hear from you! (Like how to put a picture on our fundraising page?)

In other news, yesterday I did my 6 weeks to 6 pack DVD and Bobby and I went for a 3 mile run. With my legs getting stronger I am getting faster which is a nice confidence boost for me!

Also another big thank you for everyone’s sweet words and encouragement over the past couple of days. I have THE BEST readers!

aannndd finally, today is the last day to enter my GIVEAWAY! Hurry hurry!

QOTD: Have you ever run a race for a cause? Tell me about it! If not, what are your thoughts on programs like TNT?

Hi! I am Heather Montgomery, formerly known as Running With Sass®, a 31 year old living in Tampa, Florida with my husband and two year old daughter. I’m just a regular girl who likes to run, travel, go to Disney World, and eat junk food.
Thank you for visiting my blog! Feel free to contact me, (or for PR inquiries) at [email protected]